Collusion was planned, organised and politically cleared at the
highest levels

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP, MLA today gave the main
oration at the Easter commemoration at Carrickmore, in County
Tyrone. Mr. Adams last spoke at Carrickmore five years ago, a
few days after the Good Friday Agreement was achieved. Below are
extracts of his speech.

Mr. Adams said:

Ireland's struggle for freedom has produced many heroes. Men and
women of enormous courage and self-sacrifice who were and are
prepared to give everything in the cause of Irish freedom. As we
honour the men and women of 1916, let us also remember all of
those republicans who in this and previous generations gave their
lives for Irish freedom. We remember in particular republican
patriots from County Tyrone and pay tribute to them. They were
ordinary men and women who in extraordinary and difficult
circumstances found the inner strength, determination and courage
to stand against injustice and oppression, and to demand the
rights and entitlements of the Irish people. They had the vision
to see beyond the conflict, beyond the centuries of occupation,
and to embrace the republican spirit of Tone, of Pearse and
Connolly, and to stand up for truth and justice, for liberty and
equality. I also want to salute their families and to
particularly welcome those who are with us here today. Céad míle
failte romhaibh.

Irish republicanism

Sinn Fein is an Irish republican party. Our strategy to achieve
a united, independent Ireland marks us out from other Irish
political parties. Republicanism is about the people. It's about
self-determination and democracy. Two concepts denied to the
Irish people for many centuries by Britain's involvement in our
affairs. Irish republicanism has a vision of a new society that
is democratic. That is economic as well as political. A society
which is inclusive of all citizens. A society in which there is a
redistribution of wealth for the well being of the aged, for the
advancement of youth, for the liberation of women and the
protection of our children. It foresees a new relationship
between these islands resting upon our mutual independence and
mutual respect. Our republicanism is about change - fundamental,
deep-rooted change. It's about empowering people to make that
change.

That means we have to be agents of change. This is an enormous
responsibility and challenge but it is a challenge that I believe
this generation of Irish republicans will achieve. The people of
this island have the right to be free. To live free from
discrimination and inequality, without violence and conflict.
Free to shape our own destiny - our own sovereignty. We have the
right to be free from division, foreign occupation, and
injustice.

Building a New Republic

That means building a republic worthy of the suffering and
sacrifice of all of those who have gone before us. But no party
can bring about change on its own. We can mobilise, organise and
represent - and Sinn Fein is doing all of those things. But it is
the people who must bring about change. Sinn Fein has grown
through hard work, determination and strategic planning. We are
closer now than ever to delivering our goals because we have
increased our political strength election after election. The
introduction of the new registration system is designed to stem
the growth of our political strength and our capacity to deliver
a united Ireland - Don't let them away with this in May. With
this in mind make every vote count

We go into the election with a unique message - a unique vision.
Sinn Fein is the only all-Ireland party and we are the only party
with the strategy and policies to achieve Irish Unity and
Independence. And here in West Tyrone you set an example for the
rest of us the last Westminster election. While sections of the
media, political pundits and all our political opponents promoted
and predicted that the SDLP would win this seat, republican west
Tyrone had a different story to tell.

Political crisis

As everyone knows Sinn Fein and the two governments have been
involved in intensive discussions in an effort to find a
resolution to the current impasse. Sinn Fein has stated our
opposition to sanctions which are outside the terms of the Good
Friday Agreement. And while we have criticised the Irish
government on this issue, I have to acknowledge that the Irish
government, the Taoiseach and some of the senior officials, have
played a particularly active role over the recent period. They
have persisted when others were less resilient.

But one of the principal difficulties is the way that Unionists
have left the main negotiations to the British. This brings a
fault line into the process. Unionists need to stand on their own
feet. We want to do a deal with them. The big question is do they
want to do a deal with us at this time? Unionists say they want
clarity and certainty from republicans. Let me tell you that what
the IRA is saying to them is very clear indeed. It is
unprecedented, to the point that perhaps some of you may think
the Army has gone too far. What unionists actually want is a
surrender. What we want is for everyone to keep to their
commitments and for a negotiated process of conflict resolution
to be brought to completion. And that includes certainty and
clarity about future UUP intentions.

The SDLP have also been absent from the negotiation. Instead, for
short-term party political advantage, they have engaged in
attacks on Sinn Fein, replicating the UUP demands while making no
similar call for the UUP to make its position clear. Some of the
comments of senior SDLP spokespersons would make Jeffrey
Donaldson look like a moderate.

Collusion

The publication of the Stevens Report brought a media focus again
to the issue of collusion. Watching it being reported it was as
if the media and other political representatives were hearing
about this for the first time. Their words of shock and horror
that the state was involved in killing citizens, through the use
of agents within unionist death squads, will have offended many
nationalists and republicans. Across this island there are
countless families who have suffered at first hand from the
activities of these agents, and the agencies who were responsible
for their actions. Many will also have been offended by the
presentation of collusion as a phenomena that only existed in the
late 1980s and which was the responsibility of rogue elements or
a few bad apples. On the contrary this was a matter of policy and
administrative practice for the British war machine. Let's be
clear. The British Army Land Operations manual defined
counter-insurgency strategy as, 'Liaison with, and organisation,
training and control of, friendly guerrilla forces operating
against the common enemy.'

Collusion was planned, organised and politically cleared at the
highest levels. It was widespread in the 1970s with a variety of
British agencies including the Military Reaction Force - the MRF
- the 39th Brigade Intelligence, as well as the Special Branch,
all engaged in providing information, training and weapons to
kill citizens. Those who carried out the Dublin Monaghan bomb
attacks, or who killed Sinn Fein Councillor Eddie Fullerton in
Donegal were part of this web of collusion that British agencies
began constructing in the north from 1970. And here in County
Tyrone we saw some of the most brutal and brazen examples of
collusion. Pensioner Roseanne Mallon, Patrick Shanaghan, Kathleen
O Hagan, Dermott Hackett and the four men from Cappagh, John
Quinn, Dwayne O Donnell, Malcolm Nugent, whose names are on the
Tyrone Roll of Honour, and Thomas Armstrong. These and many
others were victims of collusion. This list goes on and on and
on. Hundreds died.

And this brings us back to negotiations. The logic of Sinn Fein's
negotiating strategy has been validated by the Stevens report. It
has provided us with a glimpse into the role of the Special
Branch in killing citizens. And Stevens is only the tip of the
iceberg. So, we want to know, and the families of the victims
have a right to know;

Who authorised this policy of assassination?

How many died as a result of it?

Where are those who authorised this now?

Will they be held accountable?

And what steps are being taken to stop it?

Because the reality is that collusion is still going on.

Reaching out to Unionism

There will be a united Ireland. And our task, and that of all
sensible Irish political leaders, should be to prepare for
reunification. I am not saying this to frighten or de-stabilise
unionism but because I believe that many unionists also recognise
the change that is taking place. Consequently, their fears and
worries of the future must be addressed in a comprehensive
manner. We have to be prepared to give assurances and guarantees
and to commit to protecting the rights of every citizen, without
exception. Winning unionists over to republicanism will not be
easy, but it is not impossible. Many unionists are already very
conscious of the way in which successive British governments and
unionist leaderships used and abused and exploited them. Many
look around at their unionist working class areas, which face
enormous social and economic problems. Families, the elderly and
the young, are weighed down with poverty, deprivation and a sense
of despair.We have to reach out to them. We have to show them by
our words and our actions, or our non actions, that Sinn Fein -
that Irish republicanism, always a generous philosophy - is their
future. That together we can build a future of equals on this
island that empowers, and enriches and cherishes all the children
of the nation equally.